


By the Water

by MintIceTea



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-23 14:42:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3772102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MintIceTea/pseuds/MintIceTea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The island was quiet, even when his visitor stopped by with all her questions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Island

**Author's Note:**

> Birthday gift for thataustaliangoth on tumblr! The idea came from a AU list that was floating around. :P

The small boat rocked dangerously as he stepped into it. More worried about his cargo than himself he stilled. Only once he sat down on the wooden bench seat did he risk pulling his wand out and lighting it. A soft light spell of his own invention, it should not draw attention from the residents of the castle – if anyone was awake this late. Severus snorted to himself, the witching hour, the Muggles called it. The only “witching” he’d be doing tonight would be achievable with a Muggle torch if he had one.

The lake was still for the most part, the winds from the shore, as he made his was across. His destination was one of the small islands that dotted the lake. Many of the islands were just rocky sandbars near the shore, but there were a few that housed some trees and miniature beaches. It was one of these that had become their meeting place. 

He had first discovered the place when he was desperate to get all from his housemates, as well as Potter and his lackeys. It took too much effort for them to follow him out onto the lake, and so he found peaceful hours of solitude. The chill and potential punishments if he was ever caught were worth quiet, and his occasional visitor

He tugged the boat onto shore, tying it off to a tree, and leaving his shoes on the bench seat. He rolled the legs of his trousers up to his knees before gathering up the cargo. Picking his way over the beach to where a large rock sat beside a deep pool. He let his legs dangle in the water, setting the cargo on his lap. A wave of his wand sent a shower of sparkling lights dancing across the water like skipping stones. 

Invitation sent, he waved his wand again, turning it into a light to read by and opened the book on his lap. It wasn’t long before the water at his feet rippled and a headful of kinked hair appeared above the waves. Severus always suspected that it would be a wild mess of curls if it was ever allowed to dry. The moment her mouth cleared the water she was talking, so fast that instead of English it came out as shrieks. 

“Hermione! Shut up! Slow down before you make my ears bleed!” He snapped, gently prodding her in the shoulder with his foot. 

She bared her sharp teeth at him but took a moment before speaking again. “Sorry.” She pulled herself up and rested her chin on her crossed arms which she had braced upon his knees. He made a half-hearted complaint about her soaking his trousers but she ignored it. She eyed the book he brought. “What did you bring today?” she asked, her tail twitching just beneath the surface in her curiosity.

He turned the book so she could see the cover, illuminating the words as Hermione took her time mouthing them out. She was a clever thing. Severus had not heard of many mermaids teaching themselves English, or requesting to someone to teach them how to read. To be truthful, her name wasn’t Hermione. But while she was able to speak English with near fluency, Severus’ attempts to speak Mermish weren't as fruitful. So Hermione it was, she had agreed it was close enough anyway. 

She made a sound of disgust that drew him out of his musings. “I don’t know this word, Sev’ris.” She tagged a webbed finger on the word in question. 

“I says ‘vampires’. It’s about creatures that have roots in humanity. Like werewolves and ghosts and the like.” He let her flip the book open on his lap, careful not to drip on the parchment. “Do you want to read it yourself, or would you like me to read to you?”

“Oh, you read, please!” She wriggled and grinned up at him. “I love it when you read. You’ve got a wonderful reading voice.” 

He turned the light to the pages so that she wouldn’t see him blush. “A-alright. ‘In this world there are plenty of creatures that view humans as prey…’”


	2. After Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a lonely summer Severus returns to the island with a present and a question.

He had found the story amusing. It wasn’t a wizarding story. That was obvious. It was a muggle fairytale that he had stumbled upon while poking through a box of hand-me-down books a neighbor had passed onto him. Only a few of the books interested him; an outdated chemistry text, a handful of detective paperbacks, some worn and tattered classics, and the fairy tale. The covers were faded, and there were some childish remarks scribbling in pen across many of the illustrations. But the story itself, he thought, would amuse her.

He spent the remainder of his summer digging through the few bookstores around town looking for a nicer copy. But he didn’t end up finding it until the trip to London to buy his school books. To be honest, his mother only had enough to cover a few new school books. But he knew he’d be able to get along without them. There was a housemate a year ahead of him who owed him a favor he could use to get books. So instead he ducked into a muggle bookshop a few streets before Diagon Alley. He spent a good while browsing before he found what he was looking for.

The book wasn’t old or particularly pretty, but the writing was simple and brief. The focus of the book was on the detailed illustrations inside. When he passed it to the clerk at the counter the old man chuckled and asked if was for his younger sister. Severus shook his head, carefully counting out the notes to pay. Not deterred in anyway, the nosy clerk continued. “Oh, a present for your girlfriend then?”

Severus looked up in surprise. A little perplexed to realize that he hadn’t considered that. Was Hermione his girlfriend? Even with the tails and the gills? Severus managed to mumble something that satisfied the overly curious owner before making his way back out onto the busy streets, purchase carefully tucked under his arm. He couldn’t help but think that he wouldn’t mind if she was his girlfriend.

–

It wasn’t until the second week after school started that he was able to make it out to their island, book be-spelled to be water proof. (It wasn’t much of a gift if it was ruined by her holding it). She must have been looking out for him, because she startled him by popping up beside his boat halfway there.

“Severus!” She greeted, splashing him as she leaned into the boat. He cussed as it tilted dangerously. She only laughed and slid back under the waves. She swam along beside him as he rowed, happily chatting about what had gone on at the school over the summer. Not a whole lot, though it seems that the astronomy professor was having some sort of affair with the ghoul studies professor.

“Since when do you care about gossip?” He asked as he tied the boat up.

“I don’t, but I borrowed their books while they were distracted. Could you fix them, please? They got a little wet.” She pulled herself up on the beach, keeping the gill flaps on her hips submerged. There was a chest that they kept on the island, which Hermione used as her own personal library. She opened it and pulled out two rather soggy books. One for each of the professor’s subjects. Severus snorted and pulled out his wand to spell them into new condition.

“I brought you something.”

“A gift or an assignment?” She brightened. She’d would be perfectly happy with either. Sometimes he would bring copies of his homework assignments for her to puzzle through. It had taken her awhile to become proficient in using a muggle pen with her webbed fingers – three weeks of fighting with a quill and ink had caused her to admit a reluctant defeat.

“A gift. This one is a muggle story, so it’s not very accurate.”

“Oh!” Her eyes lit up and his heart fluttered in response. “I haven’t read one of those before!”

He placed the wrapped parcel in her hands, watching as she stroked the paper, leaving damp spots. “Go on and open it.”

She let out a delighted giggle once she had unveiled the cover. “It’s about mermaids!” She beamed up at him. “Thank you!”

And before he could respond she was lost in the pages. He shook his head and held his wand so she could have light to read by. With a little shuffling he managed to lay out on the beach to be able to share the light to read by as well. Though his focus was on the school book he had brought. And unlike his submarine friend he was staying dry on the sand.

As they lay there reading, Severus could not help sneaking furtive glances a Hermione from the corner of his eye. Since Lily had begun to fade away from him as they entered their third year, two years ago, Hermione had been his only female friend.

She had taken to nibbling on her lip as she read and he hastily turned his focus back to his reading. He was attracted to her. He adored her curiosity, and her eagerness to just know everything. Her mothering chatter was surprisingly comforting, but also she seemed to know when to he just wanted to sit quietly.

The feelings he had for Hermione were different from his feelings for Lily. His emotions he felt for them were affectionate and warm. But… with Hermione he didn’t have the bitter taste of worry. Hermione felt safe to be with.

Maybe that was why Lily’s reluctance to be near him didn’t hurt as much as it should. Because he had a safe place. He looked over at her and her relaxed continence as she read. She must feel safe with him as well.

“You’re very quiet.” Hermione said, looking up at him. “Are you alright?” He couldn’t look her in the eyes, instead turning his gaze to where her scales reflected the moonlight through the water. She soon turned her attention back to her book.

It took him a while to work up the words that been festering all summer. “A-are you my girlfriend?”

“I suppose so.” She answered absently, twisting her hair as she flipped through the book, admiring the pictures again. “But I’m not stabbing your wife to be with you. Or turn into sea foam. What spell does that anyway?”

He snorted at her answer, relived at the lack of outrage. “I have no idea. It must be some kind of dark magic though.”

“Hmm. You’ll need to bring your mother’s old books back out. I think there was a spell in one that was similar, I want to see that again.”

“Fine.” He stood, brushing off the sand on his trousers. “I’ll be back Friday then. Anything else?”

She finally looked up from the book. “Yes. Come here?” She beckoned him back down to her level. When he bent over she reached up, tugging him down so that his lips met hers.

He stared at her wide-eyed. She grinned, all sharp teeth, but a shy coloring danced across her cheeks. “Don’t girlfriends do that?”

He could only nod. Her pleased giggles followed him back to the boat.

–

As he crawled into his bed one of his roommates stirred and called from across the room, “Where’ve you been, Snape?”

Severus kept his smile to himself, but the smug tone was plain in his voice. “Went to see my girlfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...uh, I wasn't planning on adding more to this story.
> 
> But here we are...


	3. No Distance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione is a bit put out that her new boyfriend seems to be avoiding her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday (give or take a day or so) to thataustraliangoth over on tumblr.

                Hermione hadn’t seen Severus in _days_ and she was starting to go crazy. Flicking her tail in agitation she tried to turn her focus back to her small collection of books. For the past hour she had been pulling them out, stacking and re-stacking them, trying to will her wandering thoughts back.But the words didn’t catch, slipping away from her like eels, and she found herself absorbed in thinking about Severus.

                She hadn’t heard from him since that lovely night where he asked if she was his girlfriend. Hermione wasn’t quite sure what being a girlfriend entailed, other than kisses, but she was a good student. She would learn. She had read lots of books and made good notes.

                Now if Severus would just show up so he could clarify things for her! With a final exasperated huff she packed her books back up into her trunk. She slid back into the dark water and floated for a bit. Scowling at the starry sky above. She could hear the chirps and songs of her people and entertained thoughts of joining them. But she didn’t want to play, she wanted to _talk_ and she wanted Severus. Twisting, she flipped her tail, sending her down through the water. She swam towards the castle. All the merpeople of the lake liked to swim by and startle the young humans – the Slytherins, Severus had told her. His peers lived in the section where the glass looked below the waves.

                It was late, but there were still quite a few students milling about. Hermioine pressed her face to the glass, trying to make out if Severus was in the room. It took a moment for someone to notice her, and when the blonde did she startled at Hermione’s toothy grin. The blonde girl signed a question in the choppy hand language the dungeon dwellers used for the mermaids.

                _S E V E R U S,_ Hermione signed slowly. The girl’s mouth twisted in a frown, but she nodded and moved deeper into the dungeons, away from the windows. Hermione waited impatiently by the window, ignoring a few of the other humans that looked at her in curiosity. It seemed to take forever, but the blonde girl finally returned, pushing Severus in front of her. Hermione made an upset croon; one of his arms was in a sling. He didn’t look up at Hermione, just muttered something to the girl who signed for him.

                _He’ll meet you outside._ After that Severus turned and stalked up the stairs.

                She swam for the small cove where Severus usually kept the small boat he used to get to their island. She made it there before him, and waited anxiously until he finally appeared through the trees.

                “Severus! What happened to your arm? Where have you been? Are you alright?”

                “Yes.” He eased himself carefully down onto the rocks as close to the water as he could. “I’m sorry.”

                Hermione frowned, pulling herself out of the water to get a closer look at his arm. “Why hasn’t this been healed?”

                He carefully pulled his arm from the sling so that she could see. “Have to let it heal without magic since I had taken Pepperup before I broke it. The spell would react weird.”

                Crooning, she hauled herself up until she lay sprawled across Severus’ lap. Careful to avoid his injured arm. She smiled at his red face, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “What happened?”

                Severus grumbled before finally admitting that he and James had gotten into another fight. One that was unfortunately near the top of the stairs. So embarrassingly Severus was mostly at fault for his own break. This time at least.

                “But come Potions Monday Potter will be in for a surprise,” Severus confided. “And Lily won’t know it was me because I’ll be sitting next to her with a broken arm when his potion goes foul.”

                Hermione tried to look disapproving. She had never been impressed by the Potter boy. Especially not with all the times she had found Severus drenched from the lake because of them.

                She wriggled further, until they lay side by side, his good arm around her. His face flushed, but he smiled shyly at her when she caught his eye. “Want me to read to you?” she offered, knowing it would be harder for him to hold the book and light with just one arm. At his nod she sat up, reaching for his book bag and pulling out the book from his history class.

                She settled back down, with him holding his lighted wand so she could see. She started reading at the chapter where he had left his bookmark. After a moment she felt his eyes on her. “What?” she looked between him and the book, wondering what she had mispronounced.

                “Nothing.” He ducked his head and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “Just content.”


	4. Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrapping this up before the new year! No beta, so I apologize for any and all mistakes. >.>;;

“Snivillous has a girlfriend.” Peter announced as he joined the group at the table, nearly upturning Remus as he slid in.

Lily nearly choked, more because of Remus elbowing her than from Peter’s announcement.

“You can’t be serious.” James muttered, as he patted Lily’s back.

“I’m Sirius!” Sirius chimed in automatically. “But really, don’t lie, Wormy, it’s unbecoming.”

“I’m not! I heard what’s-his-face-blonde-Slytherin say it to that short Hufflepuff with glasses and scrunchies.”

“Very reliable sources,” Remus snorted, but Peter seemed to miss the sarcasm, instead nodding enthusiastically.

“Yeah! They said he keeps sneaking off towards the lake, that little island out past the mermaids nest.”

“Damn.”

“What?”

“That’s a good spot.” Sirius grumbled, slouching back.

“You’re mad you didn’t think of it first!” Lily realized, giving him a look of annoyance.

“He is!”

“I am not!”

\---

Sirius, was indeed mad that Snape had a spot to sneak off with his girlfriend. It didn’t take long at all to convince the others to sneak off to the island to wait for Snape. They had gotten into a fight with him in the halls after Potions, now that his arm was healed he was as spiteful as ever, and Peter’s sources did say he was prone to disappear afterwards.

James had found a rickety little boat, and the boys made it to the island without completely dunking Peter in the lake. (He was a little damp when they arrived, but Sirius insisted it was his own damn fault.)

“Keep an eye out for Snivillous,” Sirius commanded, peering across the dark water. Peter snorted, continuing in his attempt to wring out his scarf. James and Remus tugged their little boat ashore, tying it up on the far side of the island. “We’ve got the cloak so we can find out who his girlfriend is.”

“Unless we stole his boat,” James pointed out dryly.

“There were two of them,” Remus countered, “but I think this is wasted trip anyway.”

“Peter, shove him into the lake.”

“No!” Peter yelped, scrambling back, knowing that even though Remus was the most easy-going of them, he could easily upend Peter if he had a mind to. In his scramble away, his hand came across something hard, half buried in the ground. “Oh?”

It only took a small bit of digging to uncover a chest. “Hey guys! Look at what I found!”

“Don’t touch it!” A voice hissed, startling them.

“Who said that?”

At once they all notice the glowing eyes over the water. And when James shined his wand in their direction they noticed the sharp teeth beneath them.

“Go away!”

\---

Severus heard Hermione call him as soon as he stepped on the boathouse. He knelt down as she swam up to the dock. “Hermione? What’s wrong? What—what happened to your hair?” He hastily lit his wand. “It looks burnt?” It was hard to tell, dripping as it was.

She nodded, her face screwed in a furious frown. “Those-those _idiots_ —were messing around on our island!”

Mermaids don’t cry, but her expression looked near close to angry tears. Without asking, Severus knew exactly who she meant.

“Did they attack you?” He growled.

“They missed, and I soaked all of them, but – but, Sev’ris, they touched my books!” She wailed. “And-and --- aaargh!” She trailed off into an angry wordless shriek that had Severus covering his ears.

“Hermione! He-hey, Hermione!” He shucked his cloak, emptying his pockets and kicking off his shoes. He slipped into the water beside her, one hand on the dock and shivering, in the chilly lake. “Calm down!”

“I hate them.” She clung to him, shaking as well, but hers was out of anger – and he knew Hermione well enough to realize that she was angry on his behalf. The island was their sanctuary.

“Severus? What are you doing?”

They both froze. They both looked up to see Lily peer down at them, a frown creasing her brow.

“Your _boyfriend_ and his lackies ruined her books and attacked her.” Hermione hissed slightly, attempting to duck lower into the water, but Severus’ sound of complaint stopped her.

“I’m sorry, Sev, I thought they might try to sneak out there and—” she blinked, just seeming to realize “is-ah, is that a _mermaid_?”

“Her name is _Hermione_.”

“Sev’ris is my boyfriend!” Hermione growled, a strange-watery tone to her voice that was distinctly not-human.

“No, I – I’m sorry, I apologize.” Lily sat back. “I’m sorry for a lot of things, Sev.”

He blinked at her, then looked down at Hermione, who was watching him carefully. “Um. Thank you?”

“I’ll…have a word with James when they get back.” Lily offered, worrying her hands.

Hermione made a sheepish little noise. Severus squeezed her hips. “Do you have to go take them a boat?” She nodded, burying her face against his neck, as he laughed.

Lily gave a crooked smile. “Did they really deserve that?”

“Yes.” Hermione wrinkled her nose. “Should I…go?”

Severus glanced up at Lily, and then back down. “Yeah I guess.”

Hermione pulled herself up to kiss Severus. She gave Lily a curt nod before swimming off toward the island.

Severus pulled himself back onto the dock, managing to cast a drying spell over himself even through his shaking. Lily cast a warming spell over him as well. Her smile was weak when Severus nodded his thanks.

“I’m not sure I get why you’re dating a mermaid,” she flapped her hand when he started to protest. “But I’m glad you’re happy with someone else.”

“…thank you, Lily.” He had to shake his head. He could vaguely make out the boys shouting at the island, and Hermione screeching. But from the very little Mermish he understood – she was winning. Lily glanced at him in concern, but at his laugh she smiled.

“Guess, I should met those idiots, and scold them. You probably don’t want to be here when they get back, do you?”

“No.” He gathered his things, knowing that Hermione would find him by the common room windows.

“You going to be alright?” He heard her ask just at he reaches the end of the dock. He glanced out over the lake, spotting Hermione’s tail as she swam back.

He smiled.

“We’ll be fine, Lily.”


	5. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this, it is complete! \o/   
> But please feel free for any side prompts, I'm always down for some drabbles for these two. <3

Many Years Later –

Harry had heard whispers and rumors about Professor Snape long before he decided to take Care and Keeping of Magical Creatures.

_Impossible to please. Unnecessary information, when are we going to use this? Never eats in the Great Hall - always down by the lake._

 As odd as Professor Snape turned out to be, Harry found the coursework to be relatively easy – there was a lot of it sure, but everything was explained clearly in class if you bothered to listen.

Still, Harry never seemed to put enough originality in his essays to please.

And it would probably help if he wasn’t always running late. (It was just so far from the History of Magic Classroom and Binns always drones on and on…)

Harry nearly runs into someone rounding the corner on his way to class. He stumbled backwards into the wall, only saved from falling by the firm grasp on the back of his cloak.

Harry blinked up into a pale solemn face. “You’re late.” The man scolded, pushing Harry before him into the classroom.

“Ah, Mr. Potter.” Professor Snape said from the dais, “I see you’ve found our guest speaker for today.”

She rolled her wheelchair forward, extending her webbed hand to the man as he joined her before the class. “This is the renowned potions expert, Severus Snape.”

She smiled at some of the raised hands from the girls in class. “And yes, before you ask, he is my husband.”

\---

Hermione twisted around in her chair, curling her tail so she can smile at Severus over the back while he pushed. “Thank you so much for coming, _Severus_.” She pronounced carefully. Even after so many years off living in the wizarding world, his name still caused her some trouble.

“Do you truly enjoy teaching those brats?” He scoffed. “Potter’s son looks just like him. But with Lily’s eyes.” He shook his head.

“Hmm. It is still difficult with some of the Pure Bloods, they don’t want to listen to a mermaid teach them.” She shrugs slightly. “But the others in the lake say that more and more of the Slytherins are willing to sign through the glass so I am glad of that.” She turns back around, facing forward once more. “I suppose overall I do enjoy it.”

“Then that’s all that matters. Most of the children will not learn until they have experiences of their own.”

“So cynical.”

“Can you blame me?”

“Ah, no.”

It was a conversation had multiple times over the years. Hermione got her fair share of judgement ever since she officially joined the human world in Severus’ seventh year.

Severus, never one to fight to get attention for himself, haunted Dumbledore’s office until the Headmaster allowed Hermione to sit the exams in her wheelchair. It caused quite a stir, a mermaid in a wheelchair with spelled clothing to filter moisture into her gills to breathe.

She’s never attended a class in her life? Why should they let her take the exams?

(Severus is a marvelous tutor when he puts his mind to it, and spite is a wonderful motivator for the both of them.)

(Hermione treasures every subject she surpassed the Marauders in.)

“Do you miss working in the library?” He asked as they near their cottage at the far side of the lake, the castle barely visible behind them.

“It was quiet.” Hermione agreed. “But I like teaching. You should be a teacher, Sev’ris. Why don’t you teach potions, or defense?”

“Oh god no. I could happily go the rest of my life without seeing Dumbledore again, I truly pity Regulus – having to play spy for him.”

“Mm.” Hermione made a sound of agreement. Dumbledore had approached Severus years ago, assuming that he had joined the Death Eaters. That mistaken assumption was what earned Hermione her chance at a teaching position. (One does not insult one of the best potions masters Hogwarts has ever known without making some kind of recompense.) “Have you heard from him lately?”

 “Ah, no, but he’ll probably come around this summer as usual.” Severus lifted her out of her chair, it rolled towards the wall and out of the way automatically. “Until then I have you all to myself.”


End file.
